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Old September 20, 2007, 09:41 PM   #1
Nasty-G
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38 Special suggestions

Just got a Uberti Outlaw 38 Special. Have the equipment to reload & need some suggestions on pumpkin, zuccini, cans & such loads. Thought I might buy new shells & then reload. Any particular brass that is better ? Bullets ? Thanks much. G.Nast
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Old September 21, 2007, 12:54 PM   #2
joneb
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Fixed sight guns are sighted in with a particular load and the front blade height determines were POA and POI will be the same at a given distance. For my dbl action .38 specials that have fixed sights 158gr bullets work the best, I have been shooting 158gr LRNFP with 4.0gr of Trail Boss, it's a good plinker load.
Most of my .38spl brass is free range brass, I do not reload American brand brass, PMC brass seems to have thicker case walls and I don't care to reload it.

Welcome to TFL, and happy shootin
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Old September 21, 2007, 01:03 PM   #3
Smokey Joe
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.38 reloading

Nasty-G--Welcome to TFL! And to the joys of shooting a revolver!

Jibjab has XLNT suggestions with regard to getting yr Uberti sighted in, and reloading for it.

Your revolver will have its own preferences as to commercial rounds, and when you reload for it, it'll have preferences there, too. You just have to experiment.

You ask what is the BEST brass, and for handgun brass, it's Starline brass, hands down. Nicely made, always in spec, not too expensive (compared with, say, Norma!) The worst brass is Amerc--almost everyone who reloads for pistol and who has expressed an opinion says the same thing, hard as it is to get reloaders to agree on anything.

I too reload range pickups, and will use anything except Amerc, and they all seem to work. A poster a while back tested several brands of brass to reloading failure, and Remingtons failed the earliest, but even so, they were good for several reloadings before failing.

The general rule with handgun brass is to reload it until the mouth splits. Works for me.
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Old September 21, 2007, 01:22 PM   #4
Sevens
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Along with 9mm (and soon to be .40 S&W), there may be no more plentiful and cheaper brass on earth as the good 'ole .38 special. Many folks say that nickel plated brass is weaker than brass color brass, but in a relatively low-pressure round like .38 spl, I wouldn't lose much sleep over it.

If you do buy brass, look for someone selling a lot of once-fired. The savings will be tremendous and you'll load them for years.

For target and plinking, I've found nothing better than the 148 grain cast DBBWC. That's double beveled base wadcutter. Nice and accurate, and very tame. If your targets are pumpkins and cans, these are a fine way to go.
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Old September 21, 2007, 01:32 PM   #5
Trapper L
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My brother shoots cowboy action with two of those shooters. He loads the Meister 125gr lead bullet under 3.0 grs Bullseye. It doesn't hardly make any noise and I'd almost bet the bullet could be caught at 100 yds, if it made it that far. It is just enough to make a pop and reliably come out of the barrel. If this is what you are looking for, there's the data. FWIW, out of his shooters this load will group at an inch at 25 yds.
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Old September 22, 2007, 02:41 AM   #6
TWB
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Jibjab is telling you the story straight. I prefer fixed sights, but if I want to use a certain bullet other than the 158gr. in .38/.357, and I otherwise intend to keep the gun, I file the sights down. (I go lighter, rather than heavier)

I mention this, because heavier and slower bullets are fairly unimpressive on fruits and vegetables, and canned products, than lighter and higher velocity loads. Whether you prefer light/fast or big/slow for SD is up to you, and might affect your gun use.

As far as brass, I've had good luck with major brands such as Winchester, Remington, Federal, etc. I've had lousy luck with Aguila, Sellier and Bellot, and Amerc seems universally hated.

As for bullets, you can use pretty much any construction in a .38, because your velocities will unlikely be high enough to cause leading or copper wash to stick in your barrel. (EXCEPTION: Do NOT push 148gr. wadcutters to higher velocities.) I've quit using lead bullets altogether, so I'll have to leave it up to users to suggest the better ones. (I quit as a matter of personal taste. The only brand I really liked was Ballistic Advantage, from Abilene, Tx. and it's long gone.)

Major brand bulk bullets are great shooters...I like Remington and Winchester. The copper plated/washed bullets such as Ranier and Berry's are great, in my experience, for .38.

As for charges, I prefer Hodgdon and Vihta Vouri powders, and suggest using loads listed on their sites.

Welcome to the forum.

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Old September 22, 2007, 08:06 AM   #7
Linear Thinker
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I shoot Cimarron Lightning, which I believe is the same as Uberti Outlaw. It is extremely accurate and shoots to POA with both my light and medium loads:

Light load: 125gr Rainier copper JFN, 3.5 gr Bullseye, assorted cases, Win SPP.
Medium load, same with 125gr Winchester JHP, 4.4 gr Bullseye.

LT
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Old September 22, 2007, 02:44 PM   #8
Slamfire
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I have shot case loads of 158 L (round nose or LSWC) and 3.5 grains Bullseye. Any case and any primer. And I mean any case and any primer. I reload at least a 1000 at a time through my Dillion and I use the cheapest primers and if any of brass matches, it is luck of the draw.

This load has consistently been the most accurate in the bucket load of 38 Specials that I own. From Colt Detective Specials, Police Positives, Smiths (just name the model), Rossi's, Taurus, etc, etc. Shoots to Point of aim in all the revolvers with fixed sights and adjusted for the 158. Shoots good in my 357 M66's too.

I consider this a full powder load. It is not a +P.

I like the fact that one pound of Bullseye goes a long way.
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Old September 23, 2007, 09:33 PM   #9
Nasty-G
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38 Special

Thanks for all the info. Questions. . What is +P ? Suggested sources for bullets ? I can get Lazercast at Cabelas. Not sure if Sportsmans Warehouse has cast bullets. Have one near so no shipping. Gonna call a range about brass. If none there how about Magtech ? Will check Cabelas for the other bullets as well. Thanks again. Nasty-G
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